Abstract:
ABSTRACT - Bioplastics are plastics that are easily broken down by microorganisms. Bioplastics can be made from natural polymer materials. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of increasing the concentration of chitosan on the characteristics of bioplastics and to obtain the best starch-chitosan composition in the manufacture of bioplastics.. The characterization consisted of thickness test, density test, tensile strength test, elongation test and biodegradation test. Bioplastics are made with a composition of 65%:35%; 50%:50%; and 35%:65% (starch : chitosan), 3% and 5% chitosan concentrations, by looking at the effect of the composition used. From this research, it was found that addition of chitosan had an effect on thickness, tensile strength and biodegradation. The best bioplastic results were in the composition 50% starch : 50% chitosan. The thickness of the sample was 0.158 mm, the density was 0.890 g/cm3 the tensile strength was 0.486 N/mm2, the elongation was 12.04% and the biodegradation with residual weight was 57.701%.
KEYWORDS: Bioplastics; Nipah; Chitosan; Tensile Strength; Biodegradation
